Traveling irrigation system, including the center pivot and straight line travel type, generally are supported by a plurality of spaced towers. Each tower has fore and aft drive wheels arranged to propel the entire system. The traveling irrigation system is extremely costly and extensive physical damage can be caused to the system itself as well as to any house, barn, or oilwell that might be in the path of travel of the system as it moves along the ground. Traveling irrigation systems are geared in such a manner that they develop great driving force, and accordingly, can cause great damage to any obstruction encountered while they are traveling across a field.
Most expensive traveling irrigation systems have a safety shut-down system incorporated into at least one tower thereof. The shut-down is actuated to interrupt and deactivate the irrigation system when a selected drive tower fails to move within a predetermined time period, usually of five minutes duration.
It is therefore desirable to incorporate a stop device, as contemplated by the present invention, in order to obviate situations such as described above. The stop devise is placed in the path of travel of the tower of the traveling irrigation system which controls the entire system, to thereby enable the drive wheels of the selected tower to enter the stop device and cause the entire system to be shut-down.
Walker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,679, describes a stop means for self-propelled sprinklers. However, the Walker stop device includes a vertical frame at the forward end thereof which abuttingly receives one of the tower wheels thereagainst. Accordingly, it is necessary to reverse the direction of travel of the self propelled sprinkler when it is desired to assume operation thereof.
It would be advantageous to have made available a stop device for a traveling irrigation system which enables one person to render the rollers thereof non-rotatable, and moreover, to have a unique stop system which enables the tower wheels to drive onto and off of the support rollers of the stop system in either direction in a new and unusual manner. A system which achieves the above desired and unexpected result is the subject of the present invention.